Being Evicted by council any advice would be. so appreciated

[helloall22]

So i have had some rent arrears and as the past year has been horrible i’ve missed the repayment plan
Ive had my life turned upside down and now im going to lose my home.
Ive been attacked in the street badly beaten up and then we lost our baby, had his little funeral, then my son was harassed by his ex girlfriend endlessly and her family she then had our house front door burned by my sons ex partner, then we were burgled, had my husband work van burnt out at night, we have been threatened by these people to drop the court cases as all have been reported to the police
Now my aunt has cancer of the liver
My kids are are scared to leave the house and dropped out of college after my daughter was threatened with a attack
So then i lost my job this week and im
beyond worried

I received a letter for a court date for a possession order by the council i have a secure tenancy.
they said they sent a notice of possesion letter a year ago.
I have misssef a couple of payments this year as i had large stomach operation and had to go on the sick and wasn’t entitled to sick pay after three months
so arrears started again. Then i got back to normal again when i started working
So then on the Beginning of march 26 was contacted to say i needed to start making payments to cover the debt
So by email i contacted the office and said i would
I did make payments for march
Then i made payments for April
and intend to make payments for may in two weeks

however in mid april she applied for the possesion order and now it’s likely i will lose my home and have no where to go plus im worried i am main carer for the person with cancer

I have emailed her over a few things but she hasn’t replied to me and even accused me of stealing housing benefits however i had to get prof from the benefits to prove i wasn’t paid anything and showed her that, that’s when she started to ignore me

can anyone offer advice or if they may have been through this the total arrears are 10months over 10 years that i have missed for different reasons

Yes, but OP will also be evicted. The arrears are not the biggest problem she has. Facing homelessness is.

Is your landlord known to you, for example a relative?
To be honest, your aunt's illness, awful though that is, won't be taken into account.
Condolences on the loss of your baby.
You must contact both Women's Aid and Shelter and get some contractive advice.

TBH it sounds like you have a lot going on, between getting assaulted, door set on fire and van burned out wouldn't it be better to move and try to have a fresh start.

Rent is a priority bill it should always be paid first, even if you were unable make full payment you should have paid something. That being said if you have rent arrears over a certain amount a council/housing association will always apply for a possession order, having an active payment plan usually means they won’t enforce it unless you default again. So if you get your act together and start paying your full rent and some of the arrears on time you might not lose your home.

It’s worth commenting on both the benefits and drawbacks of asking an MP to intervene.

An MPs letter won’t strike the fear of god into a public service or official. They get them all the time and have people expert in replying. Unless the official is mishandling the issue or not following policy, it is unlikely to change anything. A bland letter will go to the MP explaining they are following protocol or policy which might be local or government policy.

It is not unusual for MPs to be writing letters that take the opposing view on the same issue. For example, questioning why the council isn’t taking action on anti social behaviour and another letter questioning why the council is taking action against the tenant (for the same anti social behaviour).

In many cases the MP isn’t doing anything. It will be a member of the constituency staff who are often uniquely unqualified for the job. Word of advice don’t expect an MPs office to handle your personal information with anything remotely approaching confidentiality.

There are some good constituency MPs who do make a difference and an interest in local people and their problems. They don’t have ambition to be a front bencher and they don’t want to appear on panel shows. Public services and officials will both dread them and respect them. They will take an in-person interest that goes beyond delegating the writing of a letter by a relative employed in their office.

Who you vote for matters and a good MP who truly represents their local people is worth their weight in gold no matter which party they are a member of.

I am afraid the long list of things that have happened will likely not help you escape paying your rent arrears.
The issue is that you have not paid your rent. You have had a payment plan. And failed to pay. Stomach operation or not.
Depending on how young your children are and other factors will mean whether the council decides it is responsible for housing you or not.

From my memory ( but this was years ago)

think if you have arrears and they go to court and you agree to pay them off but don’t
the council are able to accelerate the possession order for any time up to 12 months

it takes a lot for a council / HA to evict someone
they rarely rarely do it

Go back to the Council and see if there is anyway they can halt the possession order. This may be likely if you pay the arrears in full.
Is there anyway you can do that ? Does anyone in your house work?
Failing that, a compromise. Speak to them nicely. Politely.
I would when explaining things that have happened speak plainly and factually. If you present it as a tale of woe I am afraid people may not entirely believe all you say. And wonder if they are being manipulated. So speaking factually is better.

@helloall22 It sounds as if you are having a tough time but when it comes right down to it, the only way to try and avoid an eviction is to make good on those arrears.

It is hard that you have lost your job but how many other adults are there in the house? There is at least one other-your husband- and your children sound as if they are of an age to bring in money.

All the adults in your house need to be pooling resources to make this happen-there can be no excuse in these extreme circumstances for them not to do so.

Your troubles sound overwhelming but they will all be a thousand times worse if you are homeless. So try to put them on the back burner and make clearing these arrears the one job you all have to do.

Then, when you are secure-you will have a lot more energy to address everything else.

Keep that roof over your head.

Might a clean break be better for all of you? Do your family have education or work commitments in the area?

Is moving further away an option to get out of reach of these horrible people harassing you?

Most people go through their entire life without any thing like this happening, so there probably is a pretty extensive backstory.

Yes I’m aware, so she needs to have the chance to explain all that’s gone on to a magistrate

@helloall22 book an app with citizen advice they can help guide you . Also give you advice on home much you would have to pay off to stop the judge ruling in the landlords favour . Can you do that?

It's confusing though because she said in her title she's being evicted by the council.

In the title of the thread it says the op is being evicted by the council. I would take it that the 'she' referred to in the post is the admin person (housing officer? arrears/accounts admin?) the op is corresponding with.

Given the scale of drama with your son's ex, it sounds like your DC are old enough to be working if they're not going to college. And all of them dropping out of college doesn't seem like a wise response to the fear of this family's threats. Hiding indoors isn't going to help them and I doubt they all stay indoors anyway. Better for the son to move away if anything then he gets a clean break from this ex and gives the rest of you one too. Maybe you're fine with all the kids staying home and not contributing to the rent, but it's not helping your troubles and it doesn't help to add all this into the reasons for not paying when it doesn't stand up and just makes it sound like a long list of excuses. Your aunt situation likewise. It's tragic but you simply can't be her main source of care given what you have on your own plate. Paying for the roof over your head comes first. It's not clear why your DH couldn't pay the rent even when you weren't able to work.

Main thing is to thin this list down to the clear and comprehensive reasons for non-payment and have a proper plan to start repaying. It won't be easy after already reneging on the previous plan, but CAB or Shelter should be able to help you present the best case. Prioritise that and your own health. Your DC need to step up and start paying their way or go back to college and your aunt needs to have her own calls with SS/CAB to get the support/care she needs.

Once it gets to this stage it is very unlikely you won't get evicted. You will possibly be placed in a shelter or b&b after the eviction so be prepared

I tend to agree here. She can try to talk to them but does need to be prepared to move out.

Speaking as someone who works in housing, it's pretty unlikely you will lose your home. As you've fallen behind with rent, it's standard procedure to issue court proceedings but not to get you to leave in the first instance. It's more likely a payment plan will be agreed at the court and if that isn't adhered to, it will be easier for the council to gain possession, so you really must stick to whatever is agreed this time - so only agree to a plan you can realistically afford. We usually insist on a minimum of £20pcm on top of monthly rent if someone really is on a very low income.

Absolutely this.

Contact Shelter for advice, however if you have a secure tenancy with the local authority, evictions are very hard to obtain, especially for rent arrears. Its not like private sector. Arrears are often very high and repayment plans are low, and tenants get many opportunities to get on track - I worked in social housing for several years. I don't know what has happened in your case, but I suspect your arrears are much higher than you have said, or other things have happened which have led to the NOSP. So when you contact Shelter, you need to be honest with them. If your children are not minors, and if you are deemed to have made yourself intentionally homeless, you will not be a priority for help if you are evicted.

So long standing rent arrears, predating this last year, with payment plan in place.

Missed payments this year increasing arrears, presumable missed payments are for rent not just previous arrears?

Demand in March to make payments to cover debt. Again I presume this is for the additional arrears or had you stopped paying into the payment plan?

Nearly a year’s worth of rent outstanding.

I can see why the council/landlord has lost patience. But there are two issues here that you seem to have confused; arrears repayment and eviction. If you are evicted you will still be liable to pay the arrears.

surely under the circumstances you will be entitled to housing benefit? Also maybe carers allowance and I guess others too. Universal credit? Make an appointment to speak to benefits or look online. I think with all that’s going on it will be too much to look for another job on top of all this. Find out what you are all entitled to in the house, get on top of things then sort out a job when things are calm. You’re going through so much. Give the house a massive clear out and show council you are trying to look after it and get on top of things. It sounds a very stressful time and you need to prioritise the bills and sorting everything out.

She has missed on her payment plan. I think the Council sound as if they have lost all hope. And with it patience. They have plenty of people to house who will pay their rent.

OP, can you confirm if you're in the UK and if so, which part (e.g. England)?